Changelog

2026-03-23

v5.1 — Stadium Crowd, Lab & Visual Polish

Stadium crowd: pixel-art spectators behind the goal — they celebrate when you score!
Scrolling LED sponsor banners on the stadium wall
Possession dots now pulse red when 2 moves remaining — visible during your turn
League match end screen stays visible (no more disappearing)
Weekly cup winners now ranked by number of cups won
New Lab section with interactive experiments:
— Conway's Game of Life simulator with presets & sharing
— Elementary Cellular Automata explorer (all 256 rules)
— Sorting Algorithm Visualizer (8 algorithms step-by-step)
— Pathfinding Visualizer (A*, Dijkstra, BFS, DFS with maze generation)
— Generative Art Studio (flow fields, circle packing, fractal trees)
Prisoner's Dilemma tournament simulator: pit all 9 strategies against each other

2026-03-22

2026-03-21

5 new mythology bots: Olympus XI, Asgard FK, Al Sphinx, FC Bushido, Azteka CF
Smarter bot AI: bots now advance to better shooting positions instead of shooting from far
Play Now: new visitors can play instantly without creating a team
Cup forfeit: abandoned matches auto-resolve after 7 minutes
Cup registration: no more auto-join — click Join to enter
Matchmaking: any human can match any human regardless of ELO
Game Theory section: Nash equilibrium calculator, prisoners dilemma, mixed strategy calculator
Football tools: probability calculator, tactics explained, expected goals (xG) explained
Security improvements and bug fixes

2026-03-20

5 new AI bots: Bohrussia, AC Milankovitch, Real Turing, FC Copernico, Darwinamo
New AI engine: smarter decision-making for the scientist bots — can you beat them?
Each scientist bot plays differently: from quantum chaos to glacial patience
Improved bot-vs-bot matches: more realistic and competitive

2026-03-20

Multiplayer penalty shootout: human vs human penalties now work with choice broadcasting
Cup winner celebration: trophy animation and CONGRATULATIONS screen when you win the cup
Auto-redirect after cup matches — no manual clicks needed, returns to bracket automatically
15-second countdown before cup matches start
10-second penalty timer: auto-picks center if time runs out
Penalty improvements: ball stays with keeper on save, proper turn alternation, gold scores
Hall of Fame: expandable cup winners list, emoji fixes
Keeper walk animation: smooth transitions when shooting zone changes

2026-03-19

Tactiko Cup: 8-team knockout tournament every 30 minutes — seeded by ELO, top 2 on opposite sides
Penalty shootout: 3 penalties each, then sudden death — full field rendering with real sprites
Hall of Fame: cup winners, weekly standings, Pichichi (top scorer), Zamora (best keeper), season countdown
Keeper smooth transitions: walks between positions when shooting zone changes instead of teleporting
Keeper skipped when ball not in shooting area — faster turns
4 shot targets from dead center of row 3 (75% scoring chance)
Shot click fix: nearest-match detection for accurate taps on 4 targets
Recovery page fix: Replace button now works correctly

2026-03-19

Dynamic goalkeeper: keeper coverage adapts to the ball carrier's position — 2 spots from far (50% save), 3 from the sides (33%), 4 from dead center (25%)
Shooting zone labels: 50%, 66%, and 75% scoring chances shown on the field
FULL TIME banner animation before the result screen — no more abrupt endings
Match chat: quick messages and emojis during matches — celebrate your goals!
Pass range limit: max 2 rows distance — no more long bombs from the back
Attack tracker polish: gold border only moves when the new attack starts
Kit previews on the end-of-match screen
Bot leaderboard: bottom 5 always correctly highlighted regardless of page size

2026-03-18

New match format: 4 attacks per side instead of 3-minute timer — every possession counts
Penalty shootout style attack tracker: green = scored, red = missed, visible for both teams
10 seconds per move (was 15) — faster pace, more decisive
Lateral defenders now start one row closer to midfield for better pressure options
Pass and shot preview lines: blue dashed for passes, red for shots
Clean end-of-match screen: header and counters hide when the final result shows

2026-03-18

Rebuilt multiplayer: smoother human vs human matches with improved turn coordination
Recovery codes: every team now has a permanent 8-character code — visible on the home screen and My Team page
New /recover page: enter your team name + recovery code to restore your account on any device
Recover account link on the registration screen for returning players
Fixed ranked matchmaking: both players now reliably reach the match
Auto-update: the app now detects new versions and refreshes automatically (outside of matches)
Build version shown in footer for easy troubleshooting

2026-03-17

Challenge a Friend: completely rebuilt connection handshake — both players now reliably sync with retries and acknowledgments
Fixed game stalling in multiplayer: all critical messages (commits, reveals, turn results) now retry automatically if lost
Rage quit handling: if your opponent disconnects, you win by forfeit after 15 seconds
Recoverable disconnects: brief network blips no longer permanently break the match
New app icon: pixel T on shiny black background

2026-03-17

Hair styles: choose Short, Long, or Bald for each player
New Training mode: practice vs bots with no ELO impact — leave anytime
Restructured menu: Ranked play front-and-center, Friendly section for Training and Challenge a Friend
Play Again after a ranked bot match now finds a new opponent
Turn timer reduced: 15s per turn, dropping to 10s in the last minute
New tutorial page explaining the turn timer
Tutorial: interactive keeper save — position your keeper, then watch the shot
Tutorial: tackle step now shows the full tackle animation (shake + flash)
Tutorial: more compact layout that fits on one screen
Installable as an app on mobile (PWA) — add to home screen for the full experience

2026-03-16

2026-03-16